Orlando Pirates eased past Polokwane City with a 2-0 win to open the 2025/26 season in the MTN8 at Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It was a bold starting XI put out by new head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou with Bandile Shandu starting at right-back, Boitumelo Radiopane up top and three new signings in midfield with Sihle Nduli, Sipho Mbule and Oswin Appollis as a right-inverted midfielder.
And it paid dividends with a dominant first half in which the Bafana Bafana international opened the scoring against his former club, from which he secured a sensational off-season transfer from which caught everyone by surprise.
In a neat build-up involving the impressive Mbule, Nduli, and Radiopane, Appollis showed composure to slot home the opener after 13 minutes, and just after the half hour mark, he won a penalty after being brought down in the area.
Patrick ‘Tito’ Maswanganyi stepped up to slot the ball beyond Brian Mwire to send the sold out eSgodini into raptures as they were treated to a real spectacle from the Buccaneers, who hardly gave Polokwane a sniff despite the occasional transition, which they managed to deal with.
In the second half, Appollis continued where he left off but had to make way due to what appeared to be cramps, with Tshepang Moremi replacing him and making his debut alongside Yanela Mbuthuma and Abdoulaye Mariko – taking it seven debuts, including the head coach on the day.
The opening day win for Ouaddou moves the Buccaneers into the semi-finals which will be decided by a draw and played over two legs in the coming weeks.
